55: A Whole New World

The room collapses in on me. It gets smaller and smaller as the silence between us grows in length. He blocks the door with his shoulders squared, head tipped to the floor.

“Gabriel?” I become so nervous, too nervous while waiting for him to pick and choose his words. That makes it worse. If he has to remain silent for several seconds to think about what to say or how to say it, it can’t be good.

“Phillip’s plan isn’t my plan, well not entirely my plan.” His golden eyes stare at me and I feel the sting of them piercing right through me.

“What is Phillip’s plan? Just spit it out.”

“To create half-breeds. To procreate with different denizens and humans. To start a new generation all tied to him.” He’s somewhat breathless after the words are spoken so quickly.

But my once quick heart stops. My mind goes completely blank refusing to envision it, to think about what Phillip is trying to do, to think about my role. Half breeds. Half vampire and half witch children. Half vampire and who knows half whatever else children. Great Grandpa Phillip.

“Move.” I barge at him in hopes of reaching the door. “Move.” I shout.

His hands go up to block me, to hold me back, but he doesn’t touch because he knows that will only make it worse. “It’s not what you think. I would never.”

Words tumble around my head, but none sticking long enough to be spoken. It’s not what I think? He would never? It’s like an avalanche as everything rushes down the hillside of my brain. From the very beginning, from what Phillip told me, from what Gabriel told me. This is the very reason he wanted me, the reason he set me up to be entangled in his web.

He fooled me once, shame on me. And he didn’t miss a breath in fooling me twice, shame on him. I won’t be fooled thrice.

“I’m just some baby maker to you? Just a specimen to give Phillip a half vampire, half witch kid?” I’m appalled that everything led up to this. And I think about Brooklyn’s words. “I took her role.” I whisper. “I took Brooklyn’s role. She was...she was supposed to…” I can’t finish the thought. “Move.”

“It isn’t safe out there, not until after the ritual.”

“And apparently it isn’t safe in here either.”

“You don’t mean that.” Gabriel says clearly hurt by my words.

I look him right in the eye and say the whole hearted truth, “yes, I do. Now, move.”

“And where do you think you’re gonna go?”

“Anywhere else than here. I hope to never come back to this god damn house ever again.” I hold out my hand palm up. “Keys.” I demand. His mouth opens and I know it’s to argue with me, to persuade me to stay, but I shout at him cutting any words he’s about to short. “Please, Gabriel. Keys.” I’m defeated as I say the words. Hurt and slowly dying on the inside.

Stupid. How can I be so stupid. I went from hating vampires to actually falling for one, a lying one at that. The feel of cold metallic keys in my hands snaps my back to my awful reality. My eyes meet Gabriel’s as he slowly steps aside.

Once I cross the threshold of the room and step out into the hall, his voice stops me. “Hazel,” I don’t look at him as he says my name, but I know he looks at me. I can feel his eyes on me. “You have to know that I would never hurt you or force you to do something that you wouldn’t want to do.”

My lips rub together keeping my words to myself and my eyes burn as I struggle to not look at him. I leave him standing in the doorway, staring after me without a glance back or a word spoken in reply.

Thankfully, I don’t run into anyone on my way out. Phillip is who knows where and the coven is either still in the dungeons or out in a field prepping for murder. My legs turn to jello as I hop into the driver’s side of the car. My fingers grip the steering wheel so hard that I fear tiny, little blisters will show up later.

Once I reach the city, I ditch the car and walk the familiar and busy streets to Mystic Moon. If Gabriel had followed me, he would hopefully assume that I would go home. I dig my phone out as I dodge people entering and exiting all the local shops and restaurants that line the street. I send a quick text to Avery telling her to have some salt on hand and that I would explain later.

And then I call the shop. Each ring feels drawn out.

“Hello Hazel.” Monty says into the phone.

“How did-never mind. Is Gretchen at the shop with you?”

“Yup.”

“Good. I’ll be there in like two minutes. I have some news that both of you are gonna want to hear.” I click the phone off without saying goodbye and pick up my pace.
Once I reach the shop, I’m nearly out of breath. Gretchen and Monty stare at me as I stumble through the door. “Is anyone in here?” They shake their heads in reply and I quickly lock the door, flipping the closed sign. “We need to talk.”

Just then the air gets ice cold, our breath creates little clouds of white fog. Across the room Jezmin appears. “Seeing you scramble with the fear of your mistakes is hilarious.”

“And being attacked by the dead is better?” I shout back.

“To me it was. It won’t hurt as long and then you’d join us, but now...” She says with pure satisfaction, “good luck. I have a coven to threaten, but I’ll be seeing you later.” And then she disappears.

“What the hell is going on, Hazel?” Gretchen says annoyed. She’s smart enough to understand that something is going and she’s getting irritated that she’s not been informed about it until now.

“I’m going to tell you something and I need both of you to hear me out before you freak out.” As soon as the words ‘freak out’ come out of my mouth, I regret it. It only puts them more on edge and both of their mouths open ready to shout at me. “Shush.” I shout at them instead.

I don’t speak again until both of them are silent and waiting, their eyes fixed on me. “First, I got myself mixed up in vampire business.” The words are spoken fast with nervousness. Before my next words come out though, Monty voices an ‘uh oh’. I give her an evil eye. “The night I went to Georgio’s I was attacked by a vampire. It was him or me...it was all a set up, a set up that ended up getting me blood bound to Gabriel at Phillip’s request.”

“Phillip? As in the King of vampires Phillip?” Gretchen asks clearly ticked that I caught the attention of the biggest, baddest vampire there is.

I nod.

“So Gabriel and you?” Monty questions confused to what our relationship is.

“It’s complicated, but the point is. I was bound to find a witch that his coven is using as a sacrifice in a ritual, they are performing tonight, to allow vampires to walk in the day.” A sense of relief floods through me from finally saying it out loud.

“His coven?” Gretchen asks.

“Phillip’s. A coven that Brooklyn is a part of. It’s the reason why she couldn’t make tonight's meeting because she’s performing the ritual...just before midnight.” It should feel great throwing Brooklyn under the bus, letting her two-timing secrets out in the open, but it doesn’t.

Gretchen remains silent, but Monty has a lot on her mind. It’s as if I can see the wheels turning in her head. “And Jezmin? What the hell does she have to do with this?”
“The original ritual was intended to raise blood thirsty spirits to devour everyone, leaving demons to run the world...but I changed it...or I hope I changed it so everyone doesn’t die...well, at the hands of ghosts at least.” With each pause I become more and more guilty even though there was nothing I could do besides sacrifice myself, but I have a feeling the ritual still would've gone on and ended terribly.

“But…” I swallow the imaginary blockage in my throat before saying this next bit. “Phillip isn’t going to stop at just walking in the daylight. This is just the first step in his plan, his evolution of the world. The first step of the rise of the vampires.”

“And what is step two?” Monty questions.

“To create halflings. A half vampire and half...whatever else, a generation that’s all linked to Phillip himself.”

“You’re kidding, right? Some prank you’re playing on us.” Gretchen says unamused by my so-called theatrics.

“I wish I was.” My head drops to the floor in remorse, disgust with my own actions, regret. It all floods over me and before I know it tears stream down my face. “I don’t...I couldn’t...I can’t…”

Warm arms wrap around me and then seconds later a little bit more pressure from another pair of arms wrapping around that set. Grethen’s motherly words whisper in my ear, “we’ll get through this. We witches always do.” The arms disappear. “We’ll stay in the shop tonight just in case something goes wrong.” Gretchen chooses her words wisely. Something going wrong would mean that my spell wasn’t good enough and that ravaging ghosts would attack the city.

At least at the shop we have the supplies and ingredients needed to try to protect ourselves. Gretchen pats my shoulder before she turns her back on me to get ready for our sleepover.

Monty lingers at my side. “I hope you’re fine sleeping on the floor.” She flashes me a smile and I can’t help but return a small smirk in reply.

The night is still young after each of us set up our makeshift sleeping area in Gretchen’s room. None of us are willing to sleep in the basement so the next biggest room is Gretchen’s. Her table is pushed against one of the walls and the three of us form a triangle of sorts. We sit with our backs to each other counting down the minutes. I’ve never seen Gretchen nervous, but her fingers fiddle with a protection stone while Monty reads her cards with her shoulder slumped keeping their predictions to herself. My limbs get restless after a while and I pace the room to walk off my rising anxiety.

The slow tick, tick, tick of the clock counting down the final seconds to midnight stop my breath. For a second the searing in my lungs is mistaken for the crushing icy hands of a ghost and I force myself to take a deep breath.

The clock strikes midnight.

We wait, at the ready for a flood of ghosts to fill the shop, but it doesn’t come. Not a single one. Not even Jezmin to taunt us with threats for her disappointment in not being able to kill several beings.

The ritual worked, but now what happens.